{"id":5161,"date":"2016-06-23T06:34:41","date_gmt":"2016-06-23T06:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/11and2-Emissary"},"modified":"2016-06-23T06:34:41","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T06:34:41","slug":"11and2-emissary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/23\/11and2-emissary\/","title":{"rendered":"1.1&2 — \u201cEmissary\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

1.1&2 — \u201cEmissary\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plot:<\/strong> Commander Benjamin Sisko is assigned as chief administrator of Deep Space Nine, a space station at the edge of Bajoran space, abandoned by the withdrawing Cardassian occupation force . The Federation is invited to establish a presence by the Bajoran Provisional Government. SIsko learns that preserving the fragile peace means establishing ties to Opaka, a religious leader on Bajor. His efforts to make contact force him to confront his history as a veteran of the attack on Wolf 359, and lead to the discovery of a wormhole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thoughts:<\/strong> My reactions to the DS9 pilot are not, I think, especially original. I recall hearing about questions relating to the tone of the show, and the staid pace of its opening title sequence. On first watch, I have some of the same concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The battle at the beginning is cool. The best 5 seconds of the episode have to be the shot of Sisko in the escape pod, as the Saratoga rockets away in the distance, as Sisko and the pod seemingly stay frozen in place. Indeed, as we find out later, his mind never leaves that moment. This is inspired and something I haven’t seen used elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The new theme? Meh. The credits seems to last forever! There should be a voiceover. Babylon 5<\/em> used a voiceover, which was periodically updated over the course of the series. DS9 made it to air ahead of B5. The B5 pilot movie \u201cThe Gathering\u201d aired February 22, 1993, more than a month after DS9’s permiere on January 3, 1993. B5’s first season didn\u2019t air until January 26, 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If there was a voiceover, it could make clear what the Federation is doing there, what is its mission, and describe the political situation. Nuggets about this can be mined from the episode transcript (http:\/\/www.chakoteya.net\/DS9\/401.htm<\/a>), but I admit to feeling hazy on these subjects after my first viewing of the episode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jake is a much more convincing teenageer than Wesley Crusher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sisko–they make sure to emphasize that he\u2019s a different kind of cat from Kirk or Picard. He has to be dragged from his wife\u2019s body on the Saratoga<\/em>, even after being assured that she can\u2019t be saved, because he doesn\u2019t let logic and rational acceptance of adversity rule his life. As we meet the new cast, they yell at each other a lot. Someone wants us to know this is going to be a shouty kind of show. There\u2019s no shouting allowed on TNG, so this is their chance!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shouting can be okay–after all, I watched the full runs of The Sopranos<\/em> and Breaking Bad<\/em>. I\u2019m not yet fully convinced, however, that it\u2019s a great idea to spend 176 episodes with these characters in this environment. I have never much liked Chief O\u2019Brien. Quark is at least toned down compared to how the Ferengi are sometimes depicted, as imbeciles with glandular problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Odo is no fun in the first episode. I assume he will learn to relate to someone in the cast eventually without snarling at them? Or at least learn to vary his repertoire, so that snarling is mixed with haughty superiority, or a sarcastic joke. He functions as the Spock\/Data figure, except that he is not nice, which is a big change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gul Dukat is good, but I understand he\u2019s only a recurring guest star, not a series regular? So far there\u2019s not much to like about Bashir. The best characters are Sisko, Kira, and Dax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The space station is not as pretty to look at as the Enterprise<\/em>, but I may just think this because I miss my high definition Blu-Rays. DS9 has never been released in high definition. The picture looks very grainy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I like the flashbacks. Memory Alpha points out that they are reminiscent of the fantasy illusion scenes in \u201cThe Cage,\u201d Gene Roddenberry\u2019s original pilot for Star Trek, which was repackaged in \u201cThe Menagerie.\u201d This is a nice tribute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Odo morphing effect is a massive step forward in visual effects. But, he disguises himself as a duffel bag? What happened to the Cardassian gambling winnings that were placed inside him? There are a number of scenes like this that don\u2019t seem to fully pay off (such as, does Sisko ever release Nog?). This may be because over 20 minutes had to be cut from the episode to bring it down to running time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The plot. If I have this right, Opaka wants Sisko to find and recapture eight mystical orbs being held by the Cardassians, because reasons. Sisko and Kira go looking for these Orbs in the Denorios Belt, instead in the Cardassians’ control, because some historical figure saw a vision about something. We aren’t to know what happened inside the wormhole, but perhaps this storyline will be picked up in future episodes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is not exactly what I would describe as a confident premiere of a show that knows what it is and where it is going. But it has its moments. I’d say there is room to grow?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3 of 5 stars. I can just use stars as a rating system, right?<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/memory-alpha.wikia.com\/wiki\/Emissary_(episode)<\/a>